Hoosiers (1986)

Sports movies broadly fit into one of three
categories. The worst are made by non-fans for non-fans. Better,
but of limited interest, are those made by fans for fans. But the
best, like Hoosiers, are made by fans for both fans and
non-fans.

Artistic/Entertainment Value

Moral/Spiritual Value

Age Appropriateness

MPAA Rating

Caveat Spectator

Hoosiers is more than a sports film — it’s a rousing story of
redemption that cares deeply enough and is knowledgeable enough
about the game to thrill the most demanding devotee, yet also
cares deeply enough about its characters and larger themes that
they matter in themselves, and aren’t just there for the sake of
the game.

Based on the true story of the 1954 Milan Indians, an underdog
rural Indiana high-school basketball team, the film is set in
fictional Hickory, Indiana, a small, poor Hoosier State town
where high-school basketball is everything, though there are
scarcely enough players to man the court, let alone win games.
Gene Hackman plays Norman Dale, the tight-lipped, stern new coach
who is clearly overqualified for this job and must have his
reasons for taking it, and Dennis Hopper has a rare touching role
as town drunk Shooter, a former player and the father of one of
the current players.

The story of second chances, tough choices, weathering
opposition, and overcoming adversity is a familiar one, but
Hoosiers has that characteristic that sports films so
often celebrate in their athletes but don’t always possess
themselves as films: heart. Director David Anspaugh and writer
Angelo Pizzo later collaborated on Rudy, another familiar
but enjoyable against-all-odds sports film based on a true story.
Hoosiers, though, is the better film; the filmmakers are
at the top of their game.